Baker, Furcal dealing with injuries

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- All had been quiet on the injury front until Monday afternoon, when the Marlins revealed two setbacks.

After an 11-1 win over the Mets at Tradition Field, a couple of ailments were announced. Jeff Baker was replaced in the second inning because of a strained left quad, and Rafael Furcal exited in the fifth inning with a strained left hamstring.

These are the first injuries the Marlins have endured this Spring Training.

"I felt like we've been pretty quiet," manager Mike Redmond said. "This is the time, a couple of weeks in, guys start getting banged up a little bit. Hopefully, it's not a big deal and they won't miss too much action."

Baker, who started at third base, experienced some discomfort near his left hip while coming out of the box on a ground ball to second base in the second inning.

"He said he slipped coming out of the box in his first at-bat," Redmond said. "We got him out of there. He said he didn't think it was a big deal. We'll be able to tell more tomorrow."

In the fifth inning, Furcal attempted to score from second on Ed Lucas' single to right field. On the play, Christian Yelich was thrown out trying to go from first to third, and since Yelich was ruled out before Furcal touched home plate, no run was recorded.

Furcal headed to second base for the bottom of the inning but Derek Dietrich was sent in to take over.

Furcal downplayed his discomfort, saying he is fine.

"I was running as hard as I can," Furcal said. "He made a good throw to third. I am running hard. The play was behind me."

Baker had been scheduled to play at Fort Myers, Fla., against the Red Sox on Tuesday but now won't be making the trip. Donovan Solano, Dietrich and Lucas are options at second and third base.

Stanton clears two fences with one swing

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Clearing one fence wasn't enough for Giancarlo Stanton on Monday afternoon, so he decided to hurdle two with one mighty swing in Miami's 11-1 win over the Mets at Tradition Field.

Stanton's two-run blast off Jack Leathersich was yet another video game-like moment for the 24-year-old slugger.

The home run sailed beyond the outfield wall in left and onto Field 7, directly behind the main field, of the Mets' complex.

Estimates aren't provided for Grapefruit League home runs, but if they were, Stanton's likely would rank among the longest shots thus far in Spring Training.

It was an especially impressive at-bat, because before the homer, Stanton launched a towering drive to left that landed foul. That shot may have traveled farther, and it certainly was higher. A few pitches later, he delivered his second homer in as many games.

So often a player who connects on a long drive that sails foul doesn't follow with a homer in the same at-bat.

"I just wanted to hit the ball hard," Stanton said. "I've seen where I've done it and other players have done it, when you hit a ball like that foul, you go ahead and call it a day with that at-bat. That was more of my focus, to make sure I wasn't like, 'Hey, I hit a home run foul, good for me.' That was more of what I was thinking."

Cishek, Slowey have chance to experiment

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- For Marlins closer Steve Cishek and Kevin Slowey, Monday's work in a "B" game was more than just getting some extra work -- it was an opportunity to experiment.

Slowey started the morning scrimmage against the Mets on Field 7 at the Tradition Field complex, and Cishek tossed one inning of relief. Both used the game to work on their secondary pitches.

Cishek is looking to mix in a split-finger fastball, a pitch he rarely used last season. Slowey, meanwhile, focused on throwing more curveballs after hardly using any in his first few Grapefruit League outings.

"When I'm trying to close out a ballgame, I'm not going to work on a split," Cishek said. "If it was, like, a blowout game or something like that, then I'd throw it."

He estimates throwing about 10 splits.

Slowey allowed four runs in four innings and threw about 50 pitches -- 20 to 25 of them curveballs, by his estimate.

"It's a good opportunity in a game like today to really work on stuff," Slowey said. "I haven't thrown a handful of breaking balls."

Whereas Cishek's role is secure, Slowey's is more uncertain. He is in camp as a non-roster invitee, and he is in the mix for a role as a long reliever/spot starter.

"Slowey was working on his breaking ball," manager Mike Redmond said. "In his first two outings, he may have thrown three breaking balls. His whole goal was to go over there and start mixing his breaking balls and curveballs. He just hasn't had to use it. He's predominantly thrown a lot of fastballs."

Worth noting

• Veteran Reed Johnson continues to make his case for a reserve outfield spot, going 5-for-5 on Monday in Miami's 11-1 win over New York. The Marlins pounded out 19 hits.

Johnson got a break in the first inning, as TV replays showed he was out by less than half a step on a grounder that was snared by third baseman David Wright. Wright almost robbed Johnson in the fourth inning on a similar play, though replays showed that Johnson was safe -- barely. Johnson hit four singles and capped his afternoon with a double.

• Jose Fernandez threw a simulated game on Monday on Field 2 at Roger Dean Stadium.

• Nathan Eovaldi will throw a simulated game on the backfield on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. ET. Jeff Mathis is scheduled to catch him. In addition, some regulars -- including Garrett Jones and Stanton -- are expected to get a few at-bats on the Minor League fields.

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. He writes a blog, called The Fish Pond. Follow him on Twitter @JoeFrisaro. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.